Jun 15, 2024, 10:19 ET
Lionel Scaloni likes to surprise and is not afraid to do so. The inclusion of Valentin Carboni in the final list of the Argentine National Team for the Copa America 2024which will begin on June 20 and end on July 14 in the United States, was the main novelty among the 26 names.
The “easiest” thing for the coach would have been to cut those who have been on the national team for the least amount of time, and that was the case for Valentín Barco and Leonardo Balerdi. Scaloni was faithful to his football taste and the great performance of the Monza boy in the 4-1 win over Guatemala in the last friendly may have decided the technician to take a difficult decision such as leaving out Ángel Correa and give the place to the 19-year-old attacker who, according to Diego Monroig, sent from ESPN, He has the manager crazy.
Even Lionel Messi was full of praise for Carboni, after the meeting in Washington: “It seems to me that he has a great present and future. We have to take advantage of it, as well as many of the boys who come with a lot of strength,” highlighted the captain, who added: “He had seen him in the Sub 20, but he grew a lot. He is a different player, much more trained and with barbaric quality.
Who is Valentín Carboni?
Valentín Carboni was born on March 5, 2005 in Buenos Aires, son of Ezequiel, former soccer player from Lanús and brother of also player Franco.
This left-handed and skilled attacking midfielder started in football at Granate, like his father, but in 2018 he moved to Italy with his family and moved to the Catania youth team, where his father was also. He was then recruited by Inter Milan and there he began to become known by his own name in the Primavera team, the Reserve of the Lombard team.
He debuted in Serie A on October 1, 2022 against Roma with Simone Inzaghi as coach. But the attacker could not establish himself in the professional team and he only played about 34 minutes between six games. To get him started, the Nerazzurro loaned Carboni to Monza for the 2023/24 season and there he started 32 times and came on two more. He scored two goals and provided four assists.
His history with the national teams: another Europibe who chose to be Argentine
Valentín Carboni, like his brother, is part of a group of players trained and present in Europe that Lionel Scaloni and his coaching staff were incorporating into the Argentine National Team, as part of a project to capture those talents, as they once did. It was Lionel Messi.
Among those called europibes they are also Alejandro Garnachocalled up for the Copa América, Matías Soulé, Luka Romero and Nicolas Pazamong others.
Valentín had a brief foray into the Italian Under 17 National Team, for which he played eleven games. But in March 2022, Scaloni called up the youth talents so that they could begin to have contact with the seniors in the South American Qualifiers and that was the Carbonis’ first approach to the Albiceleste. The experience was repeated a year later, to share with the world champions.
In the middle, Javier Mascherano also called up Valentín to the Argentina Sub 20 in June 2022: played friendlies and in 2023 the World Cup of the category in Argentina, in which they were eliminated in the round of 16. The Monza boy scored two goals with the light blue and white shirt.
The jump to the senior team
Although he had already trained under Lionel Scaloni and alongside stars such as Ángel Di María and Lionel Messi between 2022 and 2023, his debut with the senior team was on March 26, 2024 in the friendly against Costa Rica. He entered in the 82nd minute, instead of Fideo.
And this Friday, against Guatemala, he started for the first time and left everyone delighted. He even generated the penalty for the second goal, after receiving Messi’s pass.
Now, in the Copa América, he will have his first official tournament and official debut with Argentina and, it is known that although he is very young, if he performs, Scaloni will not hesitate to give him a place among the eleven, just as Julián Álvarez did not so long ago. , Enzo Fernández and Alexis Mac Allister.
